Sorry I missed you at Newton. I probably walked by your car five times. Share some photos and experiences with us!
yes, sorry i missed you and sony in newton. it got real hectic before the trip. i finally met ldr and his crew on the way out of davenport.
my son and i had a blast. signed up for the long haul of 7 cities in 7 days, but only made 5 stops, needed to get home to get ready for my sons h.s. grad party.
started off for k.c. friday with my 66 chevy belair wagon for its maiden voyage. bought it 8 years ago and it immediately went into the shop and didn't make it out till this spring. yanked out the 282/pg and installed an lt1/4l60e. added 4wheel disc brakes and a ton of sweat. well 8 episodes of pinched back nerves and 7.5 years i finally got it road worthy.
one the way down, had a trans cooler hose spring a leak just north of des moine. 10 min fix and off we were. but it reared its ugly head again just south of west des moine. this one cost me time, the hose turned out to not be rated for oil, for it split wide open. luckily a local man stopped and gave a ride to and from the hardware store to get a hose and trans fluid. he had his grandson with him and was going to buy him some soda and licorice, so i picked up the bill on that in return for helping us out.
the only other problem we had during our 1900 mile trip was the misfire the eng developed. but i was able to nurse it from k.c. to 4 more and home. still managed to average 18mpg. very happy.
for those interested in power tour, long haul or day tripping, plan ahead. make sure your cooling system is ready to idle for what feels like forever. the lines going into some of the venues can get very long, an hour or more. bring lots of water, i think all 5 venues i attended had a temp hovering around 95 degrees. madison felt the worse with a dew point around 76 degrees.
ran into some great people, never any a--holes. both at the venues, and the hotels. so much so, that i spent more time talking than looking at cars. take a look at the hot rod web site for pics. as you will see, anything goes. your car doesn't have to be finished to show quality. my car is a prime example. heck, some cars didn't even have windows.
joe